When Arch Manning was a young recruit, there was speculation that Tennessee — the program where his uncle Peyton is a legend — would be one of the teams heavily involved in his recruitment.

Cooper Manning, Arch’s dad, named Tennessee in 2020 — right in the middle of the Covid pandemic — among the top contenders for Manning.

The Vols, however, were never a serious contender for Manning once his recruitment really got underway post-Covid.

Manning considered Texas, LSU, Georgia, and Ole Miss (though the Rebels were on the outside looking in due to Lane Kiffin being the head coach). He ultimately committed to the Longhorns during the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel did offer Manning — back in early 2021 — but Heupel had only been on the job for a little over a month at that point. The Vols were a big unknown following the Jeremy Pruitt recruiting scandal, so they weren’t getting a lot of interest from elite five-star recruits at the time.

Heupel was asked on Wednesday during the SEC coaches teleconference about Manning’s recruitment, and he explained that there were conversations, but Tennessee simply joined the race too late.

“It was the beginning stages of when we initially got here to Tennessee as a staff,” said Heupel. “We talked to him, a few times, but it had moved pretty quickly where he had kind of narrowed it down.

“But I’ve known different members of their family for a long time, Peyton and their dad. [I have] a ton of respect for that family. Obviously, you can look at the success of them as quarterbacks, but just who they are as people. They’re as good as they get.”

Tennessee ended up landing five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava during the 2023 recruiting cycle. Iamaleava, who is now at UCLA, went 10-3 with an appearance in the College Football Playoff during his lone season as Tennessee’s starting quarterback.